God's Waiting Room & GIVEAWAY Reminder!

God's waiting room—one of the hardest, most challenging places to find ourselves on this Christian journey. One of the most difficult things about His waiting room is that we don't know the duration. Every trial has a beginning and an end, but God doesn't give us those details. He just says, "Wait." It can feel like the waiting will never end and satan's lies can convince us that God has abandoned us there and that nothing will ever change.

Waiting feels so futile. I feel that if I am not doing something, I am wasting time. Everything in me wants to run ahead and "do" something. Anything. To move things along. To see progress and improvement. To feel like some sort of action is taking place.

In reality, waiting, in itself, is doing something. Waiting on God is an action. Under the surface and behind the scenes, God is always working, and some of the work He is doing is in us, while we are sitting still, waiting, feeling like nothing is happening. In our stillness, He can and does move. There is a process taking place within us while we are waiting that we cannot see during our time in the waiting room.

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

Think about sitting in a doctor's waiting room. All you can see is that you are sitting there, wasting time, and it can feel like it will never be your turn to be seen and heard. But it's not all about you. There are other factors - people, situations, needs, etc., that are being dealt with, and a bustling busyness is happening on the other side of the closed door that you know nothing about. Finally, when the exam room has been emptied, sanitized, and prepared for you, the door opens, and your name is finally called.

I love Joshua 3:3-4, "And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore."

The people didn't move until they saw the ark moving. When the ark stopped, they stopped. When the ark waited and stood still, they waited and stood still. Only when the ark moved forward were they to move forward, and there was always to be a 2,000 cubit distance (about 1/2 mile) between them and the ark. They were not to rush ahead of the ark nor lag so far behind that they didn't have clear visibility as to what the ark was doing at any given moment.

Jesus, our Ark of safety, His precious Spirit dwelling within us, knows when it is safe and best for us to stand still and wait and when it is safe and best for us to move. Our journey following Him is not just about us, and our tunnel vision is so narrow. All we can see is how miserable we feel, how tired of waiting we are, that He seems to have forgotten us, that He doesn't care, that everyone else is being seen and heard and getting their name called, while we keep having to wait and our life stays on hold.

What we don't know is that there is a bustling busyness happening behind that closed door, and there are many factors that we cannot see or know about. Sometimes He can't open that door yet because there are things that have to happen before we walk through it. Sometimes He can't give us everything we want exactly when we want because either we aren't ready for it or the process happening behind the closed door is not yet completed.

He sees you. He has not forgotten you. He is fully aware of how long you have been waiting. He sees you AND He sees all that is happening on the other side of that closed door. "From Him cometh your salvation," and when the time is right, He will fling that door open, call your name, and it will be your turn. He has not forgotten you. Trust Him. Trust His timing.

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Don't forget to enter our autumn giveaway! It's a nice one! We are giving away 13 gifts, one to commemorate each year of blogging at Homespun Devotions! 

If you would like to enter, click HERE and follow the instructions in that blog post. 

The drawing will be twelve days from today.on Thursday, 10/24/24.

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My heart goes out to all who are suffering in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. May God please have mercy on each one who was affected and send relief and meet every need, in Jesus' name. If you want to donate to a worthy cause, there is none more worthy (in my opinion) than Samaritan's Purse. If you feel led to give to them, click here.

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As we sense the sadness, devastation, fears surrounding the upcoming presidential election, concerns over all that is happening in the Middle East, economic strain, and a general underlying sense of panic and impending doom, I want to remind you that none of these things surprise our Lord. He is fully aware of all that is happening. 

Instead of feeling alarmed by current events, just read Matthew 24, and take heart in knowing that all that is currently happening is a direct fulfillment of what Jesus said would happen. What we are seeing actually confirms our faith and proves that what we have been taught all these years is true! 

We are living in the last days, God's Word foretold the awful calamities that would come to pass during this time, and all these things must happen before that blessed day of our Lord Jesus' return! Seeing these signs of the times bolsters my courage and fills my heart with excitement to think that our Redemption is closer than ever! What if we are the generation that will see Him burst through those clouds to catch away His waiting bride? Can you imagine being alive to see that sight?

The "Gleams of that Golden Morning" are visible more than they have ever been! It is a time to rejoice and lift up our heads! 

Our redemption draws nigh!